Wake Forest escapes East Hartford with three-point win over Huskies

Before their bye, the UConn football team made a goal-line stand that allowed them to top the Temple Owls 29-20. Senior defensive back Rante Jones forced a fumble on fourth down that Kansas State transfer Jordan Wright took to the house as time expired.

Against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday afternoon, the Huskies found themselves on the other end of that situation. Just three yards separated Connecticut from collecting a first down and keeping their comeback hopes alive. That gap expanded to eight when redshirt freshman Brady Wayburn committed an untimely false start penalty.

Redshirt sophomore Nick Evers, making his first start in three weeks, fired a rocket to redshirt junior wideout Jasaiah Gathings. The Akron transfer did not get a hand on the ball; turnover on downs; comeback hopes diminished.

Nearly 30,000 Huskies’ fans at Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field vocally expressed their ire while watching the replay on the videoboard. Eight fouls had been called; UConn Nation wanted a ninth—a pass interference penalty and an automatic first down. Despite the crowd’s anger, the Demon Deacons held on and handed the Huskies a 23-20 defeat, their first at home this season.

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Video review showed that defensive back Jamare Glasker might have contained Gathings more than he should have. The redshirt sophomore held on to the 6-foot-1 wideout long enough to prevent him from attempting to catch the ball.

Head coach Jim Mora, who stood on the opposite sideline during the play, saw a hold and a pass interference. Furious as he was over how the game ended, Connecticut’s third-year head coach opened his brief press conference with some blunt words.

“We will come back, and we will fight,” Mora stated postgame.

The Huskies’ comeback efforts going forward will have to start on offense. Wake Forest’s defense, especially on the ground, held UConn to 304 total yards. The Huskies’ run game collected a season low of just 40 on 25 carries. Only Redshirt sophomore Cam Edwards and redshirt freshman Durell Robinson both gained 10+ yards. Edwards had 26; Robinson rushed for 12.

Connecticut, once again, found more success through the air. Evers went 26-43 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. Two weeks ago, Purdue transfer TJ Sheffield led the receiving department in East Hartford. Gathings earned that honor this time, turning seven catches into 75 yards and a touchdown. Sheffield himself also crossed the 50-yard mark on five receptions.

The Huskies’ defense kept them in the fight. Jevon Banks and Jayden McDonald each sacked the quarterback once. Redshirt freshman Cam Chadwick’s first career interception prevented the Demon Deacons from scoring before halftime.

Even then, Wake Forest rebounded following a 14-point performance at home against the No. 10 Clemson Tigers. Redshirt senior Hank Bachmeier bounced back with 274 yards on 21 completions. Fellow redshirt senior Taylor Morin became his lead target, catching six passes for 104 yards. Junior running back Demond Claiborne, meanwhile, gained 60 yards on the ground and provided the Demon Deacons with both of their touchdowns.

Both he and Bachmeier helped get Wake Forest on the board midway through the first quarter. Rather than a touchdown, however, their efforts resulted in a 32-yard Matthew Dennis field goal that put the Demon Deacons ahead 3-0. Graduate kicker Chris Freeman countered with a 35-yarder that knotted the game at three.

Wake Forest went ahead behind two massive third-down snaps in the second quarter. Bachmeier prevented Pryce Yates from taking him down and found Claiborne for a 20-yard connection on the frame’s first play. The former Louisiana Tech Bulldog connected with redshirt freshman Micah Mays Jr. for 41 yards on the second. The true junior in Claiborne subsequently reached the endzone as the Demon Deacons went ahead 10-3.

Wake Forest used their patented slow mesh offense often to get to the redzone for the third straight possession. There, UConn’s defense came up with another stop and forced a second Dennis field goal. Freeman made it a 13-6 ballgame with a 53-yard line drive after the Huskies’ counterattack stalled at Wake Forest’s 35-yard line.

A 15-yard penalty gave the Demon Deacons a prime opportunity to go up 13 with less than a minute until intermission. Instead, Claiborne took a four-yard loss and Chadwick got in front of Mays Jr. in the endzone for his first-career interception.

That turnover did not get to Wake Forest; Bachmeier found Morin for a 34-yard strike on the third snap of the second half. Five plays later, the Demon Deacons propelled their running back into the endzone for a second time.

Mel Brown revived Connecticut’s offense with his 46-yard kickoff return. Gathings capped that drive off in style to cut the Huskies’ deficit in half. Evers fired a shot toward the endzone, and the Statesville High School alum hauled it in for a 20-yard touchdown.

Redshirt senior Dal’Mont Gourdine got a hand on Dennis’ 32-yard field goal with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter. Wake Forest’s primary kicker redeemed himself from 36 yards out almost four minutes into the final frame.

UConn, down 23-13, got the ball back with 6:23 remaining. Evers kept the Huskies’ comeback hopes alive when he found graduate wideout Brett Buckman for a 17-yard strike. The Texas native took a five-yard sack almost two minutes after that conversion. Junior tight end Louis Hansen jumped up and answered Evers’ call for a 25-yard touchdown reception on the very next play.

Connecticut’s defense quickly forced a three-and-out and gave the offense 2:02 to work with. Sheffield gave the Huskies a first down before the two-minute timeout, but that was all they could muster on offense. The redshirt sophomore quarterback’s third incompletion of the frame, while controversial, ended UConn’s comeback and secured a Wake Forest win.

The Huskies’ homestand continues with their third and final battle against a parliament of Owls. The Rice Owls seek revenge from last season’s loss to Connecticut in Houston when they enter East Hartford next Saturday. Kickoff on October 26 is at 3:30 p.m. on CBSSN.